It's past midnight and you're dying for sleep, but lie awake with your characters screaming to get out. Dear writer, you're not alone. You've created the story of your heart, and you send it into the world, only to earn a growing list of pass letters. Dear writer, you're not alone. You're tired and wonder … Continue reading Dear Writer, You’re not Alone
Advice
The Crippling Possibility of Success
Here's the wonderful and terrible thing about creative work: YOU COULD MAKE IT BIG. One painting, one song, one poem, one video, one...book...could change your entire life. Twilight, Harry Potter, Where the Crawdads Sing, To Kill a Mockingbird, and so many others that I could go on for a LONG time. An author's breakout novel, … Continue reading The Crippling Possibility of Success
A Few Notes From a Freelance Editor
I've been editing for friends in exchange for other bookish favors for almost ten years. I've been doing freelance editing for about three, when I decided that I needed a day job that wasn't related to my creativity. The other day I ran across a book review where the reviewer was bashing the editor of … Continue reading A Few Notes From a Freelance Editor
Trying New Genres – What I Learned
I spent a few years ignoring timelines and ignoring the honest WANT to keep up with having books under contract, and I experimented. I wrote a thriller/horror with a supernatural/sci-fi style twist (think X-Files) and started another one or two in that same genre, and I wrote a MG novel with a hint of magic, … Continue reading Trying New Genres – What I Learned
STOP APOLOGIZING
I see people apologizing for their genre, what they write, where or how they're published... Or, maybe apologizing isn't the right word. The right word is dismissing their accomplishments. STOP THIS. If you weren't comparing yourself to someone else, would you be using phrases like, "Oh, I just do (insert thing here)..." or "It's not … Continue reading STOP APOLOGIZING
Edit Rounds, Typos, and the Finished Project…
This meme has been floating around, and got my re-thinking about something I think on often... HOW DO TYPOS SURVIVE? For those traditionally published, you KNOW that typos make it into the final version of your book - almost every single time. (I'll admit to a tiny part of me being giddy when I find … Continue reading Edit Rounds, Typos, and the Finished Project…
Four Letter Word
FOUR LETTER WORD and what it takes to get a story right. I met Christa Desir sometime in 2012, and I feel SO incredibly lucky to know her for about a million reasons. I started writing an intro to her publication story of this book, but she says it all much better, so here's the … Continue reading Four Letter Word
YAY! I made it! Oh, wait…
A frenzy of self-publishing followed Amazon's program to allow authors to publish their own works. A bit slowly at first, and then an explosion in 2011 and 2012, which is still exploding. And no, Amazon wasn't the only company, but they were, and still are, the largest. Some of the big names to come out … Continue reading YAY! I made it! Oh, wait…
Things We Forget
I remember a moment of time before I signed my first publication contract when I would hear published authors say - All of you newer writers, enjoy this time of no deadlines, where you are writing purely for the joy of writing. Where you can shut out the world, deadlines, editors, and critics and just … Continue reading Things We Forget
Hone Story-Telling Skills Without Writing
I'm going to start this post with a short personal note. Over the past week I put a house on the market that I designed and built. I had my first surgery outside of wisdom teeth removal and have been stuck in bed. And while bed-ridden, moved from the house I built into a basement … Continue reading Hone Story-Telling Skills Without Writing
